E3 2004: Men of Valor

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An intense and shocking ride into the heart of the Tet Offensive.

By Douglass C. Perry

Coming off its widely acclaimed PC hit Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, independent development team 2015 has ventured once again into first-person shooter territory, this time sinking its teeth into one of the US's most controversial wars ever, Vietnam. Seeking to re-create the intensity, chaos, and andenaline-soaked rush of the unique combat from the Vietnam War, VU and VU Games's Men of Valor doesn't stray too much from the fray, but what it does deliver is a concentrated punch to the senses.

The game takes place in 13 missions that cross dozens of maps ranging from small villages, beaches and jungles, to rice fields and more. There are more than 20 weapons to wield including the M14 Semi-Automatic, SKS Semi Automatic, the M60 Automatic, a host of various grenades and more. The game uses terrain unlike other FPSs. Players can hide in the moving grass, and they're constantly seeking small obstacles, trees, and bush for cover. Levels consist of multiple objectives missions in which the objective is changed during the campaign on the fly.

2015 is going for realism in several ways. Each gun packs its own level of recoil, so gamers must acquaint themselves with short rapid bust shooting. Teammates can, and are very likely, to get injured in your presence, often screaming for help or even dying in front of you. The level of vocal intensity is heavy. Your teammates use harsh language, screaming and yelling in kamikaze-style attacks, while the enemy itself is screaming in Vietnamese, screaming at both you and its teammates. Attacks are often impromptu, so you and your soldiers must adjust to constant guerilla attacks, finding cover ASAP, locating and then flanking the enemy with aggressive coordinated attacks.

Players have a lot of firepower on their hands. They can call in "arti" or artillery by using red smoke sticks to indicate the coordinates where an enemy should be bombed. You'll also see airplanes drop insanely large fire bombs across huge forest sections, lighting vast plots of land on fire and smoking enemies from their hiding places. Gamers will also find more than one way to beat a level, with the environment playing a large part in the game's level of design.

The multiplayer levels should be even more intense. On Xbox Live, players can get to grips with eight-player matches, and up to 16 on a dedicated server. Online modes include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy, Recover the Documents and Objective online multiplayer modes. There are class-based multiplayer games with seven unique troops each for the US and Communist armies and there is cooperative play through entire solo campaign via split-screen, system link and Xbox Live.

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